How to use SwiftUI in Xcode’s Playground
Have you ever wanted to use SwiftUI in Playground? This video shows you how.
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Month: March 2021
Apple likely used fake March 23rd event to root out leakers
Top leakers were wrong about Apple holding a special media event on March 23rd as the company likely put out false information to root out leakers. Apple employees who spread this planted date are likely in trouble as Apple likely distributed the March 23rd date to a select number of employees, giving the company a lead on who’s leaking.
Apple warned employees to stop leaking internal information and raised the possibility of the company taking legal action and filing criminal charges, in an effort to stop leakers, back in 2018.
Apple’s $4.7 billion Green Bond spend is helping to create 1.2 gigawatts of clean power
Cupertino, California — Apple’s newly completed renewable projects, part of the company’s planned $4.7 billion Green Bond spend, are bringing clean energy to local communities while reducing carbon emissions. In 2020, Apple funded 17 Green Bond projects that will avoid an average of 921,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually, which is equivalent to removing nearly 200,000 cars from the road. The projects will generate 1.2 gigawatts of renewable energy globally, with Apple adding over 350 megawatts of newly installed renewable energy over the last year in Nevada, Illinois, Virginia, and Denmark. Apple’s Green Bond issuances are among the largest in the private sector.
“Apple is dedicated to protecting the planet we all share with solutions that are supporting the communities where we work,” said Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives. “We all have a responsibility to do everything we can to fight against the impacts of climate change, and our $4.7 billion investment of the proceeds from our Green Bond sales is an important driver in our efforts. Ultimately, clean power is good business."
Since the historic climate change agreement at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, Apple has invested the proceeds from three issuances of Green Bonds to support global efforts in carbon emissions reductions. In February 2016, the company issued its first $1.5 billion Green Bond, following up with its second round of $1 billion in June 2017 after the former US Administration’s announcement of its intention to withdraw from the agreement reached at COP21. In November 2019, Apple issued its third set of Green Bonds and its first in Europe, with two bonds each at 1 billion euros (totaling approximately $2.2 billion USD).
In addition to those detailed in Apple’s Green Bond Impact Report, the company has continued funding new projects that support low carbon design and engineering, energy efficiency, renewable energy, carbon mitigation, and carbon sequestration. Apple has allocated more than half of its total Green Bond spend — $2.8 billion — and will continue to invest in projects that address carbon emissions. Last July, the company unveiled its plan to become carbon neutral across its entire business, manufacturing supply chain, and product life cycle by 2030. Apple is already carbon neutral today for its global corporate operations, and this new commitment means that by 2030, every Apple device sold will have net zero climate impact.
Apple’s Latest Investments in Renewable Energy
Onsite solar project outside of Reno, Nevada: A 180-acre site located within the Reno Technology Park is now providing power to Apple’s Nevada data center. The project, recognized as “Utility-Scale Project of the Year” by Solar Builder magazine, has created 236 clean energy construction jobs of which more than 90 percent were filled by Nevada residents, and represents a more than $60 million investment in Washoe County. This site is delivering 50megawatts of renewable power to Apple, joining the company’s three other Nevada projects that deliver 270 megawatts.
Wind farm outside of Chicago: A 112-megawatt virtual power purchase agreement with this wind farm in Illinois covers Apple’s electricity use in the Chicago region. This project aggregated buyers, enabling other companies with less purchasing power to access the same high-quality renewable energy as Apple.
Solar project in Fredericksburg, Virginia: Through an innovative agreement, Apple worked with Etsy, Akamai, and SwissRE to support the development of 165 megawatts of renewable power through a solar photovoltaic project outside Fredericksburg, Virginia, which is now delivering energy to the broader electric grid in the region.
Largest onshore wind turbines in Denmark: Apple has completed construction of two of the world’s largest onshore wind turbines, a source of clean, renewable energy that is now operational. Located near the Danish town of Esbjerg, the 200-meter-tall turbines are expected to produce 62 gigawatt hours each year — enough to power almost 20,000 homes — and will act as a test site for powerful offshore wind turbines. The power produced at Esbjerg will support Apple’s data center in Viborg, with all surplus energy going into the Danish grid.
Apple’s annual impact report covers the allocation of its 2019 Green Bond proceeds to environmental projects that incurred spend between September 29, 2019, and September 26, 2020 — Apple’s 2020 fiscal year. The Green Bond Impact Report, Fiscal Year 2020 Update can be found at investor.apple.com.
Caria app helps debunk the myths of menopause
Arfa Rehman, CEO and co-founder of the women’s health app, educates on an overlooked segment of society.
In the field of women’s health, medical advancement has focused on birth control and fertility treatments, even though women spend several years and an average of $20,000 in trial-and-error treatments, doctor’s visits, and products trying to get the right diagnosis and treatment for menopause.
Co-founders Arfa Rehman and Scott Gorman saw the need for guidance and support during menopause, and together they launched Caria (formerly called Clio) — a personalized guide to help users understand menopausal changes and manage their symptoms.
“There is a lack of education about menopause and its treatments in the medical community, as only 20 percent of ob-gyn residency programs in the US have a formal menopause curriculum,” says Rehman, who is also CEO of Caria. “As a result, many medical professionals don’t have the training to diagnose and treat menopausal symptoms, often leaving women with insufficient options and support.”
In a survey conducted by the Female Founders Fund, 78 percent of respondents indicated that menopause interferes with their lives, and 23 percent of respondents indicated that menopause had either “a great deal” or “completely debilitating” impact on their lives.
To combat this, Caria implements an AI-powered assistant that women can chat with in order to uncover the meaning of their symptoms and where they might be in their menopause journey. This will ultimately expand Caria’s intelligence to curate personalized health insights and recommendations about nutrition, wellness, and fitness, so that women are empowered to navigate menopause with solutions tailored to their unique profiles and preferences.
Developed with experts specializing in women’s health, Caria provides evidence-based approaches for managing menopause, including cognitive behavioral therapy, hypnotherapy, nutritional therapy, mindfulness, and fitness. It also delivers tailored programs for each stage of menopause — premenopause, perimenopause, natural menopause, or postmenopause — and curated goals. Caria recently launched a premium subscription for unlimited access to expert-created programs for symptom management.
“Since there are so few options when it comes to managing menopause, as well as a lack of well-designed products for Gen X women, we’re hoping for Caria to fill that gap,” says Rehman.
In 2019, Rehman and Gorman attended Apple Entrepreneur Camp, where they collaborated in person for the first time with one of their key engineers. They believe that the program was instrumental to Caria’s development, helping them incorporate new technologies and absorb expert insight from Apple’s design team on how to improve the app’s user experience.
“As a design-centric healthcare company, developing on the Apple platform and leveraging the capabilities of iOS have made meeting our priority for user privacy and security while delivering a stellar user experience easier,” says Rehman. At Camp, the team built the first version of their app for Apple Watch and started working on incorporating Siri Shortcuts, which now lets app users log all of their current and new symptoms, triggers, and daily activities from anywhere using their voice.
“Menopausal symptoms can disrupt women’s lives when we’re at the peak of our careers and earning power,” says Rehman. “Women currently experiencing perimenopause and menopause are 50 million strong — a high-value segment that has often been overlooked. So there is enormous value in catering to women in menopause with innovative solutions that meet their needs.”
Taboo and stigma are commonly tied to menopause. Below, Rehman uncovers — and debunks — the most common myths about menopause in her own words.
Myth: Menopause is a universal, shared experience.
The menopause transition has four phases: premenopause, perimenopause (when symptoms begin and cycles become irregular), menopause (12 months without a cycle), and postmenopause. There’s no universal template of symptoms, timing, and duration — every woman’s experience is totally different. In addition, the boundaries between each stage are blurry, and often, women don’t know whether their symptoms are related to menopause or something entirely different. When people hear “menopause,” they often think of hot flashes, but menopause is a complex process that can cause more than 40 types of symptoms. These can range from anxiety/depression, fatigue, and joint pain, to changes in cognition and digestion. Additionally, menopause and its changes have an enormous impact on women’s bodies and can set the stage for the entire second half of their lives.
The menopause transition has four phases: premenopause, perimenopause (when symptoms begin and cycles become irregular), menopause (12 months without a cycle), and postmenopause. There’s no universal template of symptoms, timing, and duration — every woman’s experience is totally different. In addition, the boundaries between each stage are blurry, and often, women don’t know whether their symptoms are related to menopause or something entirely different. When people hear “menopause,” they often think of hot flashes, but menopause is a complex process that can cause more than 40 types of symptoms. These can range from anxiety/depression, fatigue, and joint pain, to changes in cognition and digestion. Additionally, menopause and its changes have an enormous impact on women’s bodies and can set the stage for the entire second half of their lives.
Myth: Menopause only occurs in women of retirement age.
Most women start perimenopause as early as their 30s and 40s, falling in the Gen X and late millennial age groups that are at the peak of their careers and earning power. Menopause can be a stage of immense power and productivity in women’s lives and careers, though that’s not how most people view menopause. Because of that, women often remain silent to avoid being stigmatized. When women don’t have support and can’t manage their symptoms, it impacts their physical and mental health, as well as their careers — creating inequality in the workforce. Eighty-eight percent of women in the Caria community report that unmanaged symptoms affect their work and careers.
Most women start perimenopause as early as their 30s and 40s, falling in the Gen X and late millennial age groups that are at the peak of their careers and earning power. Menopause can be a stage of immense power and productivity in women’s lives and careers, though that’s not how most people view menopause. Because of that, women often remain silent to avoid being stigmatized. When women don’t have support and can’t manage their symptoms, it impacts their physical and mental health, as well as their careers — creating inequality in the workforce. Eighty-eight percent of women in the Caria community report that unmanaged symptoms affect their work and careers.
Myth: Menopause has no treatment.
It’s no secret that women of all ages are affected by the lack of gender representation in medical research. Women were systematically excluded from clinical trials, meaning our modern understanding of human health is based on men’s data. This has resulted in issues specific to women being significantly underserved. It’s important we fight this myth that there are no viable solutions for menopause and that women just need to “tough it out.” In our research, 70 percent of women report a negative experience with doctors while seeking care for menopause and feel dismissed. There are a lot of research-proven approaches to managing common symptoms of menopause, including both medication and holistic approaches.
It’s no secret that women of all ages are affected by the lack of gender representation in medical research. Women were systematically excluded from clinical trials, meaning our modern understanding of human health is based on men’s data. This has resulted in issues specific to women being significantly underserved. It’s important we fight this myth that there are no viable solutions for menopause and that women just need to “tough it out.” In our research, 70 percent of women report a negative experience with doctors while seeking care for menopause and feel dismissed. There are a lot of research-proven approaches to managing common symptoms of menopause, including both medication and holistic approaches.
In the coming months, Caria is partnering with the University of Illinois at Chicago to study the app’s efficacy in relieving symptoms of menopause. From current user surveys, 85 percent of women report improvement in symptoms after using Caria.
“We’re excited to build on this foundation and collect more clinically validated data, which will be the first randomized control trial studying a digital behavioral health app for menopause,” says Rehman.
“Despite the fact that every woman goes through menopause, there’s not enough research,” she says. “Our scientific understanding of menopause is vastly limited due to the lack of data, and there’s a huge opportunity in building the first large-scale data set on women’s midlife health. We know that menopausal changes are correlated with later-life outcomes for women’s cardiovascular, cognitive, and overall health, so this data will allow us to better understand these connections and determine how we can optimize women’s care during menopause to make a meaningful impact on their long-term health.”
For more on Caria, visit the App Store.
